There once was a show on PBS called “This Old House” the host was a gentleman named Bob Vila. The show ran for a decade (1979-1989). Each week would be a recap of the progress of one rehab or another. It was the first time the public got to see what a contractor’s life is all about. Bob Villa made it look easy, but that is the power of television. Any real estate investor who has been at it for any length of time can tell you that there is always a hitch. Todd Lubar, the president of TDL Global Ventures, surely can attest to that fact.

According to Yelp, Mr. Lubar, who is a graduate of Syracuse University, is a Baltimore, Maryland based real estate investor. His business is to find dispossessed properties and fix them up. Baltimore is a city which is making phenomenal progress in reclaiming blighted neighborhoods through the efforts of investors like Mr. Lubar. Baltimore is on the radar of many millennials who are now leaving college and starting their careers. The “Charm City” also has no shortage of talented entrepreneurs. Baltimore City has welcomed lots of new enterprises in recent years. It all equals more demand for housing. Fortunately, there are thousands of structurally sound homes which are merely waiting for restoration. For more details visit Crunchbase.

Unlike in bygone days, when “This Old House” was on the air, millennials are expecting smart home features as part of any home they occupy. Fresh paint and new lighting fixtures are no longer sufficient. That will pretty much be the case from now on. Todd Lubar realized that a while ago, and he has been making it a point to add things like automatic climate controls, self-dimming lights, and security devices to his renovations. The appeal is that all of these features can be controlled remotely from the resident’s smartphone. Smart home technology is an attractive selling point for millennials. With that demographic soon to be the dominant group in the market, it is a no-brainer. A clear case of, “if you build it they will come.” Mr. Lubar projects that in 25 to 30 years all houses will be smart houses.